Header system



F. A. LEE ET AL HEADER SYSTEM April 22, 1969 Filed Oct. 11, 1967 Jl VVE'NTCJES F." F7. LEE. 5'. KRFVTSIU S' April 22, 1969 A. LEE ET AL HEADER SYSTEM Sheet Filed OCt. 11, 1967 United States Patent 3,439,653 HEADER SYSTEM Frank A. Lee, London, England, and George Kratsios, Verona, N.J., assignors to Foster Wheeler Corporation, Livingston, N.J., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 674,540 Int. Cl. F22b 37/24 US. Cl. 122-510 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A header system, preferably for use in combination with a fired heater, utilizing a series of slide assemblies to permit expansion of a header without deformation of the headers shape.

Summary A plurality of channel means are rigidly mounted adjacent a header. Each channel means has a longitudinal axis, directed substantially through a common point. Lug means, affixed to the header, extend into the channel means to retain the expansion of said header along the longitudinal axis of said channel means.

Description of the several views 07 the drawing Detailed description Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly, to FIG. 1 an H-header 11 is shown. For purposes of description one side of the H-header will be referred to as the left header 13 and the other as the right header 115. A connecting header 17 extends between the left header and the right header. The H-header 11 has a major axis 19 and a minor axis 21 and is symmetrical about both axes. The centerpoint 23 of the H-header is at the point of intersection between the major axis 19 and the minor axis 21.

Mounted on the left and right headers 13, 15 of the H- header 11 are a series of slide assemblies 25, the details of which will be explained later.

Still referring to FIG. 1, it can be seen that each slide assembly has a longitudinal axis 27. These longitudinal axes 27 are directed through the centerpoint 23 which is the point of common intersection of the longitudinal axes.

As best seen in FIG. 4, a fired heater 29 is shown. Greater understanding of fired heater 29 construction can be had by referring to U.S. Patent 3,265,043 of the same inventors and US. Patent 3,267,915 of K. A. DeGhetto, W. P. Long, G. Kratsios and Shih-Yaun Yeh. Both of these patents are assigned to the same assignee as this application. The fired heater 29 includes an enclosure 31 formed of multilayers of insulating and structural material. The enclosure 31 forms a chamber 33 to which heat is supplied by burners 35. Two rows of tubes 37 are vertically located within the fired heater. Within the tubes are catalyst support cones 39 which, as their name implies, support catalyst within the tubes 37. Fluid passing through the tubes 37 leaves the tubes 37 through connectors 40 which extend between the tubes 3-7 and the H-header 11.

3,439,653 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 "ice A pusher-bar assembly 41 serves to spread the tubes as the H-header expands from heat thereby avoiding breaking of the connectors from expansion of the I-l-header 11. However, this will not avoid breaking of the connectors due to deformation of the H-header 11 from heat. Further details of the pusher-bar assembly 41 may be found in US. Patent 3,267,915, previously cited. Each slide assembly 25 includes an upper channel 43 and a lower channel 45. The upper and lower channels are formed of two side plates 47 and a connecting plate 49, preferably welded together to form a rectangular channel. An upper lug 5|1 and a lower lug 53 are welded to the H-header 11 to fit within the upper channel 43 and the lower channel 45.

As the H-header 11 becomes hot due to the operation of the fired heater 29, the left header 13, light header 15, and center header 17 expand, the left and right headers 13, 15 tend to warp. Since the lugs 51, 53 are restrained to move only within the channels 43, 45, expansion occurs, but with the H-header 11 retaining its initial configuration. In this way the connectors are not broken due to the deformation of the H-header 11.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

'1. A header system to retain the original header configuration, comprising:

an H-shaped header having a center point;

a plurality of channel means rigidly mounted adjacent said H-shaped header, each channel means having a longitudinal axis directed substantially through said center point; and

a plurality of lug means rigidly mounted on said H- shaped header and extending into said channel means to restrain the expansion of said H-shaped header along the longitudinal axis of said channel means.

2. A header system to retain the original header configuration, comprising:

an H-shaped header having a minor axis and a major axis and being symmetrical about both the major axis and the minor axis, said major axis and said minor axis, intersecting at the center point of the H-shaped header;

a plurality of channel means rigidly mounted adjacent said H-shaped header, each channel means having a longitudinal axis directed substantially through said center point; and

a plurality of lug means rigidly mounted on said H- shaped header and extending into said channel means to restrain the expansion of said H-shaped header along the longitudinal axis of said channel means.

3. A header system according to claim 2 wherein said H-shaped header lies substantially in -a horizontal plane and wherein each of said channel means includes an upper channel above said H-shaped header and a lower channel below said H-shaped header, both said upper and lower channels being formed from two side plates and a connecting plate arranged in a rectangular relationship.

4. A fired heater comprising:

an enclosure forming a chamber;

means for supplying hot gases to said chamber;

at least one row of tubes generally vertically oriented and located within said chamber for the flow therethrough of fluid to be heated;

an H-shaped header having a minor axis and a major axis and being symmetrical about both the major axis and the minor axis, said major axis and said minor axis intersecting at the center point of the H-shaped header, said major axis being located at approximately right angles to the longitudinal axis of said tubes;

connector means for connecting said tubes to said header;

a plurality of channel means rigidly mounted adjacent said H-shaped header, each channel means having a longitudinal axis directed substantially through said center point; and

a plurality of lug means rigidly mounted on said H- shaped header and extending into said channel means to restrain the expansion of said H-shaped header 15 along the longitudinal axis of said channel means.

5. A header support arrangement according to claim 4 wherein said channel means includes an upper channel above said H-shaped header and a lower channel below said H-shaped header, both said upper and lower channels being formed from two side :plates and a connecting plate arranged in a rectangular relationship.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,212,481 10/1965 Mumford et al. 122-510 3,263,656 8/1966 Kurek 122-510 3,312,199 4/1967 Svendsen 122-510 KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner. 

